I still hadn't thought of a good title
by Fehiki
Summary: Set in an AU where Miraculouses do not exist; Marinette and Adrien were a gaming duo hired under BugNoir, one of the Big Three e-sports team. They live under one roof and are always training for tournaments. Marinette's an untidy lady who neither cooks nor cleans, and Adrien's the one whom has to pick up after her. He tolerates her only because their in-game chemistry is too good.
1. Chapter 1

Set in an alternate universe where Miraculouses and real-life superheroes do not exist; 21-year olds Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste were a professional gaming duo hired under a contract by BugNoir, one of the world's Big Three e-sports team. They live in the BugNoir gaming house with a few others under the same team, and spend most of their time training for competitions and tournaments. Their in game chemistry was so good that it came as a surprise to their fans and supporters when they admitted to not being just as close in real life, but what does the public know? Definitely not who Marinette is behind closed doors, that's for sure.

Despite the fact that she dolls up and looks as hot as a supermodel anytime she goes out and turns into the epitome of beauty and grace, Marinette was a completely different person back at home. To start with she'd always have a different colored face mask on each day of the week trying to cure her severe acne (which she typically covered with make up), while her hair would always be in a messy bun. And not the cutesy, _intentionally _messy style, mind you. Moreover, she could not cook nor clean for shit.

Adrien hates this more than anything. While others thought him lucky his gaming duo was drop dead gorgeous, only he could see his own sufferings of having to share quarters with one poor excuse for a lady. Unfortunately, he really did have no other choice. They made such a good in-game team that it was chemistry Adrien knew would be impossible to find elsewhere. Or ever again, for that matter. And trust him, he's tried.

Three years he's been playing solo, occasionally giving other people a shot to team up with but none of them were ever really on the same page as him. That was until he played his first match with Marinette. He could whip up a plan and she'd catch on the moment she saw his first move. Vice versa, he'd see the improvisation she thought of before she even executed it. Although most of the time, it was just that their minds worked very much alike instead of them actually being able to read each other. Albeit the latter was a skill developed rather quickly among them, early on in their contract. Having similar minds made that easy.

This didn't go past the viewers unnoticed. Seeing how skilled the two were in tournaments on the big screen, their wordless communication topped with how incredibly good they looked together (Adrien was way past average-looking even with minimal effort on his part) it was no wonder that rumors sprouted everywhere. They were definitely together, as in, romantically involved. Definitely.

And the rumors reached their ears for sure but were immediately shut down when Adrien was asked at a post game interview one time. He right out announced that he has a very insecure girlfriend back at home whom he treasures, so he'd appreciate it if everyone could be considerate of her feelings and stop spreading stuff around. When asked how he could possibly have a "girlfriend back at home" when he spends 24 hours a day with gorgeous Marinette, she stepped in beside him and explained "Its all very professional- try to think of us in a different setting, maybe an office? We're just like colleagues except we're on a business trip, spending a lot of time with each other... constantly," they looked at each other and smiled in agreement when she spoke the last word.

Adrien added, "You are also forgetting that there are others in the house, and we spend more leiure time as a whole group rather than just the two of us." But of course, fans will be fans and any ships that have set sail will never truly sink.

So there they were; the untidy and incapable young lady adored by many, and the polished and responsible young man envied by all, a professional gaming duo part of The Big Three aiming for world champions.


	2. Chapter 2

It was half past dusk when whispers and murmurs were heard getting more excited as the minutes ticked by. In the theatre hall of a local high school, the audience -mostly teens to young adults, were all seen sitting at the very edge of their seats. Some gripped the seat in front of them while others held their fists on their knees as they witnessed the approaching climax of an e-sports match.

The game in focus was a virtual-reality, first-person shooter and had strict teams of two. It was known as The Miraculous. Unlike the genre of battle royale games that took the gaming world by storm, The Miraculous had a slightly different motive and end game. Aside from being able to eliminate other teams and having to stay alive yourself, players were also required to seek out _The Miraculous _which is a small gem hidden somewhere in the vastly wide map and hold on to it for a solid ten minutes. The gem had to either be within a team's inventory for the entire ten minutes, or for every other team to be eliminated to end the game and for them to claim victory.

It was a simple game, really. If your team stumbles upon the gem, immediately an announcement would be made and a count down starts before your location is marked globally on every other team's maps. This is to avoid any efforts of hiding and camping while waiting out the ten minutes.

What made such a simple game attract the attention of players world-wide was the ever increasing number of characters to select from, each with their own unique set of skills and abilities. The character classes ranged from marksmen, assassins, tanks, fighters, mages and supports. Another key factor to the game's success is the numerous different background and weather settings for the battlefield. There were post-apocalyptic city ruins at night, enchated forests at twilight, snowy mountain-top villages coupled with a meteor shower, rainy day swamps, it was really hard to get a duplicate environment for each game you play evem if you were gaming an entire day.

In this particular on-going match however, there were two teams left. The BugNoir duo and the Venus duo. The Miraculous was in Team Venus' possession, and the count down had just under 2 minutes left. Both teams were in a ruined cityscape located at the very center of the map with Venus staking out at one of the building's higher floors. One of them, a marksman held a pair of binoculars and was on the lookout while their mage partner secured the opening of the doorway as well as the staircase within sight.

"Both teams are very cautious and appear to be thinking twice about what their next step should be," the caster's voice was dripping with suspense and anticipation.

"As they should, because we all know that at this point in the game the smallest mistake could very well be the one mistake that costs them everything," the second caster continued, both pairs of eyes glued to the array of multiple screens in front of them. Each screen displayed a different angle, surrounding the four players left on the field.

"They're here. They're coming up," said the marksman, eyes still through the binoculors when he saw two shadowy figures enter the building through the main entrance on the ground floor. The mage who stood by the doorway prepared his incantations, ready to attack as soon as he saw anyone emerge from the staircase.

But in the next second, a tiny movement flashed by the corner of his eye and he immediately responded by shooting out fireballs toward its general direction. This caught the marksman's attention as well, and when he turned and had his back against the row of cracked windows, this was where they made their mistake.

"Its just a pebble-" was all the mage could blurt out in a panic, before a loud explosion broke the windows and a dagger slashed through his partner. The marksman's body disintegrated into pixels and dispersed as he was eliminated from the game.

_Venus Gus was eliminated by BugNoir Marinette._

Luckily for Team Venus, The Miraculous was with the mage. The count down was at exactly 1:10. Just one minute and ten seconds to go, he only had to survive for that long- the mage casted a barrier spell around himself immediately as he ran out the room. _Its an ambush,_ he realized. _But how?!_

"What an amazing play that was," roared the caster. "Did you see that?!"

"That was an _incredible _play, and for the audience who missed it? Team BugNoir had actually been on the roof top the entire time! With the sun behind them, they stood at the ledge which casted their shadows on the ground near the building's entrance. That planted the idea in Team Venus' head that they were approaching from below."

"Yes, and then all it took was for Adrien to use elemental manipulation to throw a pebble from the staircase's lower landing while he stood perfectly safe on the _upper _landing!"

"And when Gus was distracted by Kyle's attack, Marinette swooped in from above for the kill!"

"Oh but the game's not over yet- Kyle is now on the run, and the clock is ticking. He only has less than a minute left to survive and win this game. If he can outrun the deadly duo, victory may still be theirs!"

Back on the battlefield, the lone survivor of Venus was strong on the run. He was still puzzled over what had happened just then, but he knew one thing for sure: they had outplayed him. The question was _how_? Were they above him, or below him? Where was it safe to run- up, or down? He could not fight them, oh no. He knew that very well.

Months back, when the infamous BugNoir were newly formed, there had been rumours that they took out three teams at once. A huge fight broke out almost as soon as the game had started, when four teams including them had spawned in close proximity. The one who came out on top? You guessed it- and this was on their very first competitive game, too. Their debut game after Marinette was officially taken in by BugNoir.

And watching how they performed today, Kyle had no doubts the rumours were true. He was incredibly screwed but he didn't plan to go down without a fight. Or more of a flight, really.

In his panicked state of mind, he chose on a whim to run down the stairs. Running up would resut in him being trapped on the roof. Though to be fair, either way he chose to ran would both end with him meeting his demise. Two floors below him, Adrien stood waiting. And Marinette was already back on the roof- with an assassin's high mobility, she scaled the outside of the building back to the top after taking out Gus.

And so when he came face to face with Adrien all Kyle could muster was a "No, wait-" before a lightning explosion ignited where he stood, taking both of them out. The last thing Kyle saw before the Game Over screen was a very mischievous smirk on his blond opponent, whose face was swallowed up by the blinding white ignition.

_Venus Kyle was eliminated by BugNoir Adrien._

_Players left: 2_

_BugNoir Adrien has self destruct._

_Players left: 1_

_BugNoir wins the game!_

The crowd jumped to their feet, giving a round of applause and cheering. The casters triumphantly proclaims the end of the game and announce the victors.

Two people walked to the center of the stage. One, a lady with shiny jet black hair, almost waist-length. Dark blue eyes. Just the right amount of make-up on and a heart-wrenching smile. Beside her, a young man with toussled blond hair. Bright green eyes, shining with pride. With wide smiles, they linked their hands and bowed to the crowd.

BugNoir strikes again.

* * *

"I am so _tired," _she groaned, throwing off her shoes and socks, letting her bag fall on the floor beside them by the entrance to her room. It was half past 2 and it seems as though the rest of the house was already asleep. Their coach had taken them out for drinks to celebrate and the two had stayed out later than intended. Fortunately they had tomorrow off, and training began again as usual only on the day after.

Rubbing his eyes with dark circles under them, Adrien sighed heavily when he saw the pile she left by her door. That was not to mention the mess _inside_ her room. _Tomorrow's cleaning day,_ he decidedwith a frown. Looking up from the pile, Adrien saw that his duo and roommate was already shoving her feet under a warm and cozy blanket.

"At least wash off your make-up," he said as he walked off to his own room next door. All he heard was a grunt before he shut the door closed. After stripping down to his boxers and turning off the lights, Adrien sat on his bed and was about to get under the covers himself when Kagami's name lit up on his phone and it rang. Two bangs came from the other side of the wall.

"_Shut it off," _croaked Marinette's sleepy voice.

Ignoring her, he answered the call and laid down as he placed the phone to his ear.

"How are you this lovely evening, madame?" he drawled. A short giggle came from the other end of the line.

"Congratulations on the win, Adrien."

"Thank you, my dear. You were watching?"

"Of course! It was the state finals before you head to Nationals, right?"

"Yes it was. I thought you had fencing class today?"

"I did, but I managed to catch the tail end of your match on one of my breaks. Quite the victorious smirk you had on there. I wish I could've swatted it off your face."

"I'd be happy to show it to you again in person just so you'd swat me," came his voice in a very jokingly flirty tone. He half expected her to call out '_Adrien!' _and laugh, but he was only met with silence. "..Kagami?"

"When do you get another day off, Adrien?" she asked with a hint of sadness. "I do miss you. Its been awhile since we last spoke in person, hasn't it?"

Adrien sighed. He had tomorrow off.. he did. But if he said fuck everything here and took a day trip to return home, he'd come back to an even messier room-next-door seeing as it was their day off and Marinette wouldn't be spending most of its hours training. She'd either be stuck in her room ordering take out and eating snacks, littering it _or _would go out shopping and come back with even more crap to fill her room with. None of this would really be an issue to him if he didn't need to _walk by_her room every single day. Too bad his was at the very end of the hallway.

And if he didn't clean tomorrow, he wouldn't have time to after training starts again until their next day off over a week from now. Adrien couldn't possibly imagine how much worse the state of her room could be in, but he wasn't about to challenge her capabilities in that field

"I'm sorry, Kagami. It's just been really hectic lately ever since we breached the top 300.. our coach has been increasing training hours and although we do also get increased pay, there's just been more and more unofficial scrims. In fact, we've got one scheduled for tomorrow." He winced as he forced out that little lie.

It was Kagami's turn to sigh. "I understand. I'll be waiting for the good news tomorrow evening, then." Adrien shut his eyes closed tight. He hated this, but Kagami could afford to wait a little while longer. He'd have flowers and chocolates delivered to her tomorrow to make up for it. "Good night, Adrien," Kagami spoke softly. He could almost hear the sad smile she'd had on. "I love you."

"Good night, my dear. I love you, too." _Click._


End file.
